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Why is it that not all Christians experience the victorious Christian life? Why is it that some Christians are underground Christians and you can not detect any sweet fruits from them? Did not the Bible said that by the fruit you will know the tree? And did not the word of God promised all Christians that if they accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior, they will be transformed by the Holy Spirit from glory to glory until they reach the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus Christ? Why is it that some Christians do not grow and mature in love, compassion and holiness? Why?

Because their being born again is only half baked. They probably accepted Jesus Christ with their mouths but not with their hearts. Or probably they did, but the allures of the world beckoned upon them and they forgot their first love and have backslided.

The Bible said in Romans 12 verse 2 that the way to our transformation is by the renewing of our mind and conforming it with the mind of Christ so that we will be able to test and approve God’s perfect will in our lives. We cannot continue to do things on our own. Everything that we do must be done in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus’ righteousness and holiness were imputed upon us when we accepted Him as our Lord and savior and we must focus on that.

So we focus on God’s unfathomable love for us. Then we focus on Christ’s righteousness and holiness that were imputed upon us. Thus, we are declared and appear to God as holy and righteous because of Jesus Christ not because of ourselves.If we do these things and continue to walk in God’s will, we open ourselves to become His channels of blessings for His spiritual, financial and physical blessings to others. Thus streams of living water will flow from us to quench the thirst of those who seek God’s truth. And yes, we will be finally transformed by the Holy Spirit from glory to glory until we reach the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus Christ.

“The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” (Proverbs 4:18)

To be able to get the maximum effects of the benefits of Christ’s crucifixion and death on the cross, let us not focus on our own finite love for God. That love is imperfect and waning just like any other human emotions. Let us focus instead on the love of God for us, for that love is infinite, beyond measure and beyond comprehension.

Ponder this. If God did not hesitate to send His beloved and only begotten Son to save us, how could He ever withhold all the wonderful things that we ask from Him in the name of Jesus Christ? The problem is, we do not know how to ask. Most of the time, we ask impossible things from God and expecting nothing in return as if God is some sort of a modern day genie. And when we fail to receive the imperfect things we ask from Him, we say that God is unjust and does not hear and answer our prayers.

In order to get the things that we ask from God, let us be sure that the conditions for God’s answering our prayers, as contained in the Bible, are met. These are:

1) God gives us what we need and not what we want. 2) When we pray, let us believe that God will hear and answer our prayers. 3) We must have a clean heart and soul. We must confess all our sins and accept forgiveness from God. 4) We must forgive the sins of others to us. 5) We must address all our petitions to the Father, in the name of Jesus, and through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. 6) We must focus on God’s love for us and must maintain an expectant attitude that our prayers will be granted.

Do these and focus on God’s immeasurable love for us and we can expect miracles to unravel in our lives.

Paradigm is what people originally think about us. It is what people associate us with. It is the representative idea that is evoked in the minds of people that is readily associated with our name. Paradigm is practically the first impression that people associate us with. It is a built in reputation surrounding us and is very hard to erase in the minds of people. Even if we have already changed, we are still associated with a particular paradigm.

Those who have been truly born again and had a complete turnaround in character are particularly vulnerable to this kind of name association. A person who was known to be a drunkard, a womanizer and a heavy gambler, and who had a complete change in his life because of the power of the Holy Spirit, will have a hard time convincing people that he has really changed. The best thing for him to do is to stop convincing people about his miraculous change and just show them his transformed self.

Yes, it is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that we can completely change ourselves from our shameful past to our present glorious life. If only we could change our individual paradigms or the first impressions of people about us, that would be wonderful. Ah, but who cares. So long as we have already changed and are doing the will and purpose of God in our lives, that’s all that counts.

.ExternalClass .EC_hmmessage P {padding:0px;} .ExternalClass body.EC_hmmessage {font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;} Once upon a time there was this girl who had four boyfriends.

She loved the 4th boyfriend the most and adorned him with rich robes and treated him to the finest of delicacies. She gave him nothing but the best.She also loved the 3rd boyfriend very much and was always showing him off to neighboring kingdoms. However, she feared that one day he would leave her for another.She also loved her 2nd boyfriend. He was her confidant and was always kind, considerate and patient with her. Whenever this girl faced a problem, she could confide in him, and he would help her get through the difficult times.

The girl’s 1st boyfriend was a very loyal partner and had made great contributions in maintaining her wealth and kingdom. However, she did not love the first boyfriend. Although he loved her deeply, she hardly took notice of him!

One day, the girl fell ill and she knew her time was short. She thought of her luxurious life and wondered, I now have four boyfriends with me, but when I die, I’ll be all alone.’

Thus, she asked the 4th boyfriend, ‘I loved you the most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?’

‘No way!’, replied the 4th boyfriend, and he walked away without another word.

His answer cut like a sharp knife right into her heart.

The sad girl then asked the 3rd boyfriend, ‘I loved you all my life. Now that I’m dying, will you follow me and keep me company?’

She then asked the 2nd boyfriend, ‘I have alwaysturned to you for help and you’ve always been there for me. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?’

‘I’m sorry, I can’t help you out this time!’, replied the 2nd boyfriend. ‘At the very most, I can only walk with you to your grave.’

His answer struck her like a bolt of lightning, and the girl was devastated.

Then a voice called out: ‘I’ll go with you. I’ll follow you no matter where you go.’

The girl looked up, and there was her first boyfriend. He was very skinny as he suffered from malnutrition and neglect.

Greatly grieved, the girl said, ‘I should have taken much better care of you when I had the chance!’

In truth, you have 4 boyfriends in your lives:

Your 4th boyfriend is your body. No matter how much time and effort you lavish in making it look good, it will leave you when you die.

Your 3rd boyfriend is your possessions, status and wealth. When you die, it will all go to others.

Your 2nd boyfriend is your family and friends. No matter how much they have been there for you, the furthest they can stay by you is up to the grave.

And your 1st boyfriend is your Soul. Often neglected in pursuit of wealth, power and pleasures of the world.

However, your Soul is the only thing that will follow you where ever you go.Cultivate, strengthen and cherish it now, for it is the only part of you that will follow you to the throne of God and continue with you throughout Eternity.

Thought for the day: Remember, when the world pushes you to your knees, you’re in the perfect position to pray.

Dreams have a reality all their own. To the person who indulges in its escapist world, it is as real as you and me. Do you remember the time when as a kid, we used to have our own imaginary friends? Or how about the castles in the air we escaped to when things were bleak in our real world?

I remember when I was a child and I dreamed of my own world of make believe. My favorite spot was our window upstairs. I would pretend that it was an airplane and I was a pilot that flew it wherever I wanted it to go. I would simulate so many dogfights and bomb runs on the territories of the enemy.

Sometimes, I would pick up cottons from inside our dilapidated living room sofa and blew them outside our window. Then I would pretend that they formed into the big shapely clouds that adorned our skies.

Even when I was already a young teen, I would still indulge in my make believe world. It was a world of idyllic beauty, with a breath taking lake and a garden full of gorgeous flowers and luscious fruit bearing trees. Oh, I was always lost in the enchanting beauty and grandeur of that escapist world with the lady of my dreams. Food was no problem for us for the lake was full of fishes jumping in the air. And we have our own menagerie of farm animals to provide us meat. We planted our own colorful vegetables in our garden patch.

The girl of my dreams was so beautiful, perfect in every way. I made so many poems and love letters to her. But alas, all dreams have their endings. I was brought back to the harsh realities of life. I have to go on with my schooling and later on, with my work. But my enchanted world was so good and real while it lasted.

To all my friends and readers who patronize this blog, may I refer you to my good friend-Shiela of Bluebirdy with url: http://bluebirdyliving.blogspot.com/.I’m sorry if I still don’t know how to make the proper linkage to her blog. Just copy her url and paste it on the search engine of the internet to access her blog.

She is suffering from an advanced case of lupus, fibromyaglia, diabetes and God knows how many more illnesses wracking her frail body right now. She’s living with her very sick mother and an equally sick brother somewhere in Canada, and her husband is working somewhere in the borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan unable to complete his papers to officially emigrate to Canada.

The condition of my dear friend is so volatile that she lives in extreme pain almost 24 hours a day. But she has to take care of her ailing mother because they are only three very sickly people in their house. There are so many times that she would pass out without her noticing it.

I enjoin you all, my friends and readers, to visit her blog and offer your expressions of love and support for her. I also enjoin you, my beloved friends, to offer your sincere prayers for her healing and also for her mother and brother too.

We are all one, united in love and harmony, and the pain of one is suffered by everybody. Let us all pray that she will believe that the Holy Spirit can effect that miraculous cure in her ailing body. Let streams of living water flow from our hearts and refresh her tired body and soul. Let us all become channels of God’s blessings to comfort her and give her overflowing joy in her heart.